My 3 year old Garmin Nuvi will hold only half the maps of the US in it's main memory, it does have a micro-sd card slot which they recommend you use if you need more maps on the device. The biggest problem I have is the business listings for things such as restaurants is not updated nearly as often as the maps are so sometimes the restaurants are long gone and new ones are not listed.

This whole talk of GPS I find very interesting. I got my first GPS in--1993!

These were the days when there were only marine GPS'. There was no map readout-----the readout you see gave latitude, longitude, speed, direction and Estimated Time of Arrival. You programmed it by putting a series of "waypoints" into it. If you were sailing to the back side of Catalina Island for example, you couldn't just put a beginning and end waypoint-----it would take you through the middle of the island. You had to work with a paper marine chart, picking waypoints on the route to take you around the island. But boy, it was neat to go for a 30 mile saile at night and wind up right where you wanted to. When I look at my car GPS these days, it is so simple to operate as opposed to the original marine ones.

Ed, I am a sailor and I had a 26 Hunter that I raced every weekend and the best I ever came in was last. The device to me sounded incredibly difficult but at the time, I am sure it was up to speed.

Paul E. Smith Knoxville, TN

Paul, I know you had a boat, but I thought it was a power boat. My boat was a Hunter also, a 1984 25.5. 3/4 oz. racing spinnaker, 155 jib on a roller furling, even an Autohelm Autopilot. Even though I mainly used it for cruising, it was a nice little racer and came in 1st several times. The way I had it set up, it was the perfect boat for single-handing out to the islands and around the CA coast.

Ed, I have had a bunch of boats. I currently have a Regal power boat that only get used by my grandboys. I only have about 12 hours on it. I have a kayak (Hobie self propelled fishing) and a coleman canoe. My Hunter did not have all the toys you had but I knew how to use it, not race it. I was not good. I had a small catalina that I sold a few years ago. I had it on a lift at my dock. I had a 270 Sea Ray that I sold after my wife died. it was way to big to maintain and it had a 454 engine that got three gas stations per mile. Adios.

There is a limit to Garmin's "recalculating" effort in two ways. The first is if your new route finally gets shorter than your old route. The second, and I have tested this taking old Highway 61 on Minnesota's North Shore shoreline instead of the parallel four lane divided route between Duluth and Two Harbors that has numerous connecting roads to get back on the recommended route. I forget the number of times but after a while it just quits navigating until you give it new instructions.

Mosca, I came across a post of yours: Incredible set of WW2 photos: 7th Fighter Squadron on Iwo Jima - Fri, 02/12/10 12:15 PM, referencing a picture taken by my dad, Murray Befeler, from WWII. I'd like to learn more about your research. Mike Befeler